Pakistan players have made a significant push in the latest ICC men's T20I rankings following their impressive performances with both bat and ball in the recently concluded four-match T20I series against England.
Left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi is now one step closer to breaking into the top 10 ranked bowlers in the shorter format, standing at 11th position with 632 rating points. Pacer Haris Rauf, who made a strong comeback after recovering from injury, has moved up one spot from 26th to 25th with 578 rating points, thanks to his exceptional performance in the fourth T20I match against England, where he picked up three crucial wickets in his four-over spell.
All-rounder Shadab Khan, despite having a rough time with the ball, has also climbed one place from 36th to 35th with 533 rating points. However, all-rounder Imad Wasim, who missed the last encounter against England due to injury, has dropped one place from 39th to 40th with 498 rating points and will also be unavailable for the upcoming T20 World Cup opener against the USA.
With the bat, Pakistan's opening duo have retained their spots. Mohammad Rizwan remains at the third spot with 766 rating points, while skipper Babar Azam is at the fourth spot with 765 rating points.
Fakhar Zaman, who was on fire with the bat in the recent series against England, has moved up one place from 51st to 50th with 491 rating points. Iftikhar Ahmed has also progressed in the latest rankings, climbing one spot from 63rd to 62nd with 467 rating points.
South African fast bowler Anrich Nortje has surged up following his stunning display against Sri Lanka in the first week of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The 30-year-old’s superb performance has seen him leap up nine places in the Men's T20I Bowling Rankings, bursting into the top 10 and climbing to eighth position. Nortje is now the second-highest pace bowler in the rankings, behind Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, who sits in fifth. England’s Adil Rashid remains in the top spot, with Wanindu Hasaranga and Axar Patel rounding off the top three.
Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi also moved up to 10th in the Bowling Rankings thanks to his superb returns of 5/9 against Uganda at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, with Tabraiz Shamsi and Reece Topley both dropping out of the top 10.
The two Afghanistan opening batters were the other notable movers in the latest update to the ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put on a 154-run opening partnership in their big victory over Uganda at the T20 World Cup this week, each jumping four places in the format’s rankings as a result. The 20-year-old Gurbaz moves into the top 20, with Zadran four spots behind in 24th.
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan is the beneficiary of an unusually disappointing outing for Sri Lanka’s Hasaranga against South Africa on Monday, with the Bangladesh all-rounder leapfrogging Hasaranga into the top spot in the All-Rounder Rankings.